Mellifluous
by papalogia
Summary: Two children, separated by great distance and circumstance, come to hear the other's voice. In time, the connection fades, only to be suddenly rekindled when they meet for the first time-as enemies.
1. Duet

**A/N:** This is a prompt request from Dragon, "I'll never let you go!", and...this is gonna be a multi. Not too long, I anticipate less than five or six chapters, but if I feel like it...I may expand a little. Forgive the shortness of this first chapter, but exposition must occur! The next chapter (out in a few days) will be sufficiently long enough to make up.

Without further ado...

* * *

Erik awoke just as the first rays of the sun peeked through the horizon.

The nine year old knew he had an hour still to rest before the guards would come and wake them up with their loud bells, but because he could hear them beginning to rouse-hundreds of angry, dark souls twisting and churning and making him ill-he had no choice but to rise with them. That was another thing.

He could hear their souls.

Erik didn't know why it had happened, he just knew that one day he woke up and was able to hear his everything. He had been terrified. It had hurt so bad, hearing the onslaught of everybody's pain and their sick, rotting souls, but if he made a complaint then the guards would beat him, so he kept quiet.

"Mornin', Cu," he whispered, peering down his ragged yellow-white shirt to smile at the tiny purple snake that rested comfortably against his bony ribs. She flicked her tongue out in greeting, and Erik sighed when he realized that not even today could he hear her soul. It was odd, but all he could get was a general emotion. It was alright, however. She provided a sort of white noise that kept the vast waves of hurt at bay.

"It's'apposed ta be...Wenneday today, I think," he nodded as he rose silently and stretched. He bit his lip as the movement pulled at the barely scabbed over whip marks on his back. It wouldn't do to wake up the others. "Supply collection."

Erik knew today was important because he was the medic of his cell block, and that meant that every second Wednesday, he was to go pick up a small packet of medical supplies to treat his cell mate's. It was the only time he ever got to see other children from the Tower, and he was excited to meet Jellal again.

As he tiptoed over to the small square in the wall meant to provide ventilation, he felt something...humming in the back of his head. Figuring it was the soul of a new slave, he shrugged it off and stared out the hole and into the early morning sky. Little red and orange wisps cut through the black sky, pushing at the pretty stars and bouncing beautifully off the rocking water. He sighed in contentment, inhaling the fresh night air. He frowned when the humming got just a little louder, and abandoned his sightseeing to focus on it.

He knew immediately it wasn't a slave. The soul was humming happily, a beautiful sound that made his heart flutter. He hadn't heard anything so pretty in his life, never heard something so pure. It was a wondrous break from the dread and death in the Tower-this was the opposite; confident and full of life and hope. He glanced down at Cubellios, who stared up at him questioningly. He caught something akin to curiousity coming off her, so he said, "I hear somethin', Cu! It's a new soul! Not a slave kid! It's real pretty...lemme try singin' it!"

After glancing around to ascertain that everybody was still asleep, he began to hum. It wasn't like the soul in his head. He had a feeling nothing could ever properly copy it, nothing could come close to capturing the purity, but he tried anyway. His little friend seemed to enjoy it immensely, swaying her head to the beat.

"What're you singin'?" Macbeth mumbled from nearby. Erik tiptoed over, avoiding tripping on Sorano's curled up body, and crouched by his best friend. "I hear a new soul in my head. It sounds real pretty. Ain't a slave kid."

"Then how're you hearin' it?" Macbeth was awake now, sitting up carefully. The small light in the room allowed Erik to see the bags under his eyes, and he winced sympathetically. "I dunno. Don't care, though, I like it."

"You try talkin' to it? Maybe the person can hear ya," the pale boy suggested. Erik furrowed his brows and tilted his head down in concentration. How was he supposed to do this? Start talking aloud? In his head, maybe? Because it was a soul, perhaps he needed to go ahead and use his to try to talk, but how would that work...?

"Hey!" the guards yelled. "Up and at 'em! We don't got no time to waste, you shitty fucks! Up! Move! And you, little bitch, time to go get the medical supplies, get moving!"

Erik winced, making sure to pat his shirt as he rose. He felt Cubelios respond and wrap her small body around his chest as tightly as possible to avoid falling and exposing herself to their guards. Who knew the punishment he would receive if they found out. Waving Macbeth goodbye discretely, he scurried over to the cell doors and exited quickly.

The walk to the supply collection was punctuated by sneers and pokes to his injured back with their staffs. He held strong through the hurt, focusing on the pretty song in his head. He wondered what this mystery person's life was like. It sounded like a she, and she sounded happy. Maybe a little upset, but it did nothing to lessen the beauty of the song. He winced as one jab reopened a whip mark on his back, and, to his surprise, felt her soul flutter with worry in response. Could she hear him, too? What did he sound like? He knew it would probably sound like the other soul in the Tower, and felt something akin to shame wash through him. A person with a soul as beautiful as hers shouldn't have had to hear something as putrid as his.

"You know the drill," one of the guards grunted as he shoved Erik into line. The boy scowled, but brightened when he saw a familiar mop of blue hair before him. "Jellal!"

"Erik," warm brown eyes lit up as he greeted his friend. "How are you? And Cu?"

"'m good. So's Cu, she's..." he glanced down his shirt. Jellal nodded in understanding and discretely patted her head over his shirt. "Hey, Cu."

"Jellal, yer never gonna believe this!" Erik whispered excitedly. "I can hear a soul in my head! Ain't a slave!"

"Have you tried talking to it?" Jellal asked. Erik pouted and shook his head. "I dunno how to. 'M tryin', though. She responded when they poked me. Got worried 'cause it hurt."

 _Maybe you could tell her about this place and get her to bust us out!_

Erik knew there was a reason Jellal spoke to him mentally. It was considered treason to discuss escape or overthrowing the guards. The last person who had done so had been publicly beaten as an example, and Erik had watched in horror as he wasted away overnight. He had been outside his cell, in the middle hall, and he could do nothing but watch as he begged for help and died shortly after.

He knew what the cost was to speak aloud, so he merely shrugged.

"Cell block," a bland voice asked Jellal, who replied, "D."

A small cloth bag of supplies was thrust in his hands and a heavy hand grabbed him by his shoulder and wheeled him away. Jellal waved goodbye as Erik stepped up and said, "E," before he was asked. The lady nodded and tossed him a small bag, as well. Erik followed his guard meekly, focusing on the pretty soul to distract him from the cries for help.

The soul sang louder, if anything.

It was almost like she heard his cries for help and a distraction and responded.

* * *

Erik hated this part of his job.

Sorano kept a perfectly blank face despite the pain she felt as he carefully cleaned her newest whip mark. He could hear her soul screaming in misery as he dabbed at the cut, but his friend was too stubborn to break composure and cry. He liked that about her. She never gave the guards the satisfaction of seeing her cry. That was reserved for the late hours of the night, away from prying eyes.

"It ain't infected, I don't think," Erik said, wrapping a thin layer of the limited gauze around the wound. He had to make this last two weeks, after all. "It ain't gushing that...oozy stuff, so yer okay for now."

"Thank you, Erik," she replied primly, making her way to the skeleton structure of the wall to continue building it. He waved half-heartedly as she left, and turned to the next patient. He was an old man with kind eyes, and a dark bruise on his ribs. Clubs, then.

"You breathin' okay?" Erik asked. He had learned that not being able to breathe properly meant broken ribs, and the easier it was to breathe, the less severe the injury. The old man smiled gently. "Not broken. Fractured. You did good to ask, boy."

"How'd ya know ya fractured somethin'?" Erik pulled out a small bottle of salve to help with the pain. This was a little secret of his when he discovered Cubellios could produce a sort of painkiller poison. He had infused a tiny bit with his creams before his duty began while the guards weren't looking.

"Not the first time I've fractured a rib, boy. I am a Mage," the man declared proudly.

"Mage?" Erik hissed, glancing around furtively. "Old man, ya gotta be careful sayin' that 'round here. Guards don't take too kindly to ya folk," he punctuated this by smearing a small amount of the cream on the bruise. The man stiffened, and Erik heard the question in his soul. He hadn't been aware they provided painkillers here. The boy shook his head imperceptibly. The old man grinned, "You'd have made a fine doctor, boy."

Erik hummed as the man hobbled away, turning to the next kid. His mind was away as he tended to the gushing head wound, focused on the pretty song in his head.

 _Reckon I'd've made a doctor, lady? I dunno. Sounds kinda expensive. My family ain't rich, ya see. Think that's why they left me here?_ The soul hummed, sadness evident in its tune. He frowned. He didn't like the way the song became darker with pain. She didn't know what it was like, he realized. She just felt sorry that he was in pain.

He startled when he realized that her response meant she could hear him.

Forcing himself to look as passive as possible as he bandaged a punctured palm, he focused on that soul. Maybe her end of the connection was like his, where he only got a general gist of her emotions. The connection was steadily getting stronger, he knew, because he could now pinpoint an exact emotion. Was there anything he could do to speed up the process...?

If it involved souls, then perhaps he could try to latch onto hers with his. How would he go about that? Maybe if he imagined his soul as a sort of chain, he could find her half of the chain and join them together like links? It was a longshot, but his best bet.

"Hey!" came a yell. "Hurry up and stop dawdling! You ain't got all day, bitch!"

Erik scowled minutely but did as he was told, moving faster. He kept his gaze focused on the heavily crusted blood on the next lady's shoulder, and slowly drifted out of reality to his mind.

He imagined his soul as a chain. It wasn't very long, nor was it pristine. Rather rusty, actually. Corroded, if anything, as if dipped in acid at some point. He manipulated it forward, pretending it was a snake. His soul responded in the like, swaying shakily forward. He followed the song in his head, forcing the chain to find the source. His lip drew up in a snarl when he found nothing.

What good was this make believe? He could only imagine his soul as a chain, it wasn't as if it actually was one. Maybe he would just have to leave this up to time. The connection seemed to be slowly forged, but...he needed it sooner. He was so curious, so desperate to connect to the outside world, he was ready to sacrifice what little he had to connect to her, whoever she was.

Truth be told, he was lonely.

Sure, he had his little band of five friends, but they could hardly talk during the day, and as night dawned they were all too exhausted to talk each other to bed, so Erik was left alone to bear the burden of the pain of a thousand souls with nobody to keep him sane. This girl, whoever she was, would help him stay sane. She would be his one friend outside of Cubellios who was a secret. He wanted to know more about this beautiful soul. He wanted to know why she had connected to him of all people, why she would corrupt that song with his discordant wails.

He felt something click in his head and he froze.

Her chain was neat and shiny. The links were tight, and there was not a hint of rust. It was polished and shone brightly, much like her soul. He felt his mouth pop open as he saw his rusty chain link with hers tightly, locking in place.

He had done it. He had linked their souls.

"Hey!" a guard roared furiously, advancing with a heavy club in hand. "I fucking told you to stop dawdling!"

The last think Erik was aware of before the club hit him over the head was Macbeth's terrified red eyes staring straight at him.

* * *

Erik came to with a massive headache and a worried purple snake in his vision.

"Cu," he breathed. "What time is it?"

Cubellios bobbed her head eight times. Eight o'clock, then. He tried to rise up, only to whimper in discomfort as his head swirled terribly. Opting to lie down, where the steady ground would calm the ache, he prodded his forehead. He felt his hair matted with sticky blood, half-dry, and figured he had a brain bruise. There was a fancy word for it, he remembered one of the doctor's here saying, that sounded something like collision.

"Cu," his eyes widened excitedly. "I made a link! I made a link!"

The snake emanated confusion, so he elaborated, "The pretty song from this mornin' came from a soul, right? The not slave one?"

Cubellios nodded.

"So I made us link our souls! I think this means we can talk in our heads properly!" Erik exclaimed. He immediately hushed up, glancing around. In his excitement, he had forgotten about the room he was in. His stomach roiled as he caught sight of familiar, smooth grey walls.

Isolation.

He would be here three days, at least.

"Well," he gave Cubellios an uneasy smile. "At least we can use the time to try an' talk to her."

He squeezed his eyes shut, ignoring the way his head throbbed as a result, and focused on that link. He could hear her soul singing just as loudly as before, but he was to surprised to hear how worried and fast-paced it was. Had she heard him before he had been rendered unconscious?

"H-hello?" He whispered aloud. When he didn't get a reply, or indication that he had been heard, he decided to try and...think-speak it to her.

 _Hello? Anybody there? I can hear you!_

 _"Oh! I hear you, too!"_

Erik felt his heart stutter and mouth run dry.

She had finally spoken, and he swore it was the sweetest sound in the world.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, that happened.

Fun fact, this was supposed to be a pre-established CoLu watching Titanic with Lucy tearfully quoting Rose, but then I was like "angst is fun".

It's really not. For you, anyway.

-Touko


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** /this took forever whoops

Have fun!

* * *

Lucy didn't like her language tutor.

He was a mean old man who stunk of the kind of smoke the men at her father's business parties did, but he never covered it up with the expensive oils they would use to try to hide the stench from their wives. He spoke harshly and carried a thick accent from his native tongue that made it difficult for her to understand his lessons. Sometimes, when she didn't understand a lesson, he would take his ruler to the back of her knuckles and rap them hard enough that they would be red for days.

So when he called in ill for the day, Lucy cheered on the inside while maintaining a perfectly blank face as her father instructed her to carry on with the lesson independently. She was seven years old, after all, and was fully capable of reading a book and doing some self-practice. It was expected of a blossoming young woman of her stature.

Lucy fought to remain still as she sat at the desk made specially for her. It wouldn't do for her to be slouched over and swinging her feet. If anyone came by and saw, they would immediately scold her for sitting like some common child. Proper women sat perfectly still with straight backs and an attentive posture, after all.

Still, for once, she wished she were allowed to move just a little. She spent hours upon hours in the study learning meaningless things that she would probably never need to use upon marriage. Her mother was adamant that she be allowed to roam free for just a little while and made sure that Lucy was allowed to frolic outside for at least one hour. Sometimes, if Lucy was lucky, she would be allowed to play with her mother's spirits.

Lucy sighed. The words were making no sense to her. Nothing was making sense to her. Since she had woken up at seven sharp, she had felt...off. Not in the ill sort of way, but rather the sense that one got when something important was about to happen. Add to the fact that she had been hearing a faint humming since that morning, and Lucy was about ready to call it quits and slump in a corner with a fairy tale and read that instead of verbs in ancient Desiertian.

The blonde was well-versed in music, having taken lessons in the matter since she was three, and could tell right away that what she heard was more painful than Ustvolskaya's Sixth Piano Sonata, and according to her musical theory tutor, nothing was more raw and painful than that. This song hurt her. Her theory teacher had told her that the sonata was meant to convey a pain that the player felt, but try as hard as they might it was impossible to because it was just too much. Only they would ever fully feel the pain. Nobody would understand them.

Lucy didn't like that.

She didn't know why the mysterious hummer was sad, and she didn't know why he (she got the feeling it was a he) was hurting so much, but she hated seeing people sad. Biting her lip, Lucy tried her best to think of her happiest thoughts. Maybe if she thought hard enough, he would hear it and be happy too.

Mama. Aquarius. Capricorn. Cancer. Reading for pleasure. Singing. Solving puzzles. Learning new things. Strawberries. Summer air. Stargazing. Her father's approval.

Slowly, as she thought harder and harder and forced herself to remember as many memories as possible, the humming grew a little lighter. Not sound-wise, but in the harshness. She perked up. He had heard her! He had heard her and was happier now!

Content, Lucy sat back and stared at the pages of her textbook once more.

With the melancholic humming keeping her company, the words of the book started to make sense and Lucy eagerly dove in to the lesson.

She would show her stinky tutor.

* * *

Lucy found that, one she had initiated some sort of contact with the hummer, he was eager to keep it going.

He would hum away at the back of her head as her math tutor rambled on and on about some equation or the other, and when his song started getting sad, she would pretend to take a note while thinking of something happy; she learned that thinking of her mama seemed to perk him up the most, so she spent most of her time focusing on that.

"I want those three worksheets done for tomorrow, Miss Lucy," her tutor instructed, waving goodbye as she left the study.

Lucy sighed.

Finally.

"You're interesting," she mumbled to herself. The seven year old made her way over to one of the many bookshelves, selecting a fairy tale. "Do you like to read, I wonder?"

When the humming remained fairly happy (as happy as it could get, anyway), Lucy seated herself and opened the book. The words were tiny and in a looping script, but it was one of her favourites. An adventure novel about a girl who traveled the world with the dragon who was supposed to keep her captive to break the spell that kept him in his beastly form. Lucy longed for an adventure like that. She wanted to explore the world and fight in brave battles and fall in love with someone who wanted to be free as much as she did.

"I'll start reading now. I hope you like it! It's my number one favourite," Lucy cleared her throat. "Once upon a time in the kingdom of Alvarez..."

Lucy continued to read the book out loud carefully, making sure to define the hard words like 'bewitch' and 'alchemy', and monitored the humming absent-mindedly. He didn't seem to dislike it, but he didn't brighten the way she had expected him to. In fact, once she had gotten to the fourth chapter, he had down spiraled into another depressive chorus.

Lucy panicked.

"I'm sorry!" she squeaked, closing the book sharply. "I thought you'd like it! I know the second chapter is really sad, but I didn't mean to make you sad! I promise it gets happier! I can stop now and we can do something else! Just...don't leave me alone."

Lucy squeezed her eyes shut and thought about the sky.

The sky always made her happy. The sky meant she could see the constellations of her friends, present and future because she was going to be a mage just like her mother, and it also meant she could go outside and play freely. The sky meant walks with mama and flower-crowns with Cancer, and it meant loose dresses instead of the constricting ones she had to wear. The sky was freedom and happiness, and Lucy got the distinct feeling that he wanted both just as badly as she did.

His humming lightened, and Lucy smiled in satisfaction.

He was happy, and so was she.

"I'm gonna keep reading. You'll see, it gets happy," Lucy opened the book again, flipping to the page they were on before.

Just as she was about to bring to life the princess' brave first escape, Lucy heard something click in the back of her mind.

Her grip on the book tightened and her mouth fell open. She could almost see two chains linked together, half of their links melting into one. Her chain (she just knew it was hers) was shiny and perfect, while his was rusty and dented. She quite liked his. The fact that it was so old but it held on so firmly meant he was strong.

Suddenly, the most earsplitting shriek in the universe resounded in her ears, rising in pitch and causing her to drop her book and claw at the sides of her head. Her head throbbed and her vision blurred with tears, and soon, everything went black.

* * *

She woke up to total darkness.

Her bed was soft and warm, and all she wanted to do was bury herself in the blankets and sleep some more. Her head still ached, but it wasn't as bad as before.

Lucy almost shot up when she realized that the humming noise was back and more scared than anything.

Worry bloomed in her chest. Had he been hurt? Was that why she had heard that awful noise? Was it because of those chains? Had she hurt him? The thoughts bounced around her skull rapidly, causing her stomach to churn uncomfortably. She didn't like the idea of hurting him at all. She liked it when he was happy.

 _"Hello? Anybody there? I can hear you!_ "

Lucy gasped in delight. She could hear him in her head! He was talking to her! Immediately, she thought, _Oh! I can hear you too!_

 _"My name's Erik, who're you?"_

 _I'm Lucy! I'm seven years old. How old are you?_

 _"Nine, I think,"_ he sounded a little confused. Lucy furrowed her brows. _How do you not know how old you are? Doesn't your cake say it on your birthday?_

Immediately, Lucy felt him get defensive. _"I dunno. The guards don' tell us much."_

Lucy latched onto that immediately, _You have guards too? Are you an heir?_

 _"What's an heir?"_ he asked.

 _It's a person who is gonna take over a business or kingdom one day,_ Lucy responded. How odd! How could somebody with guards not know they were an heir? Perhaps he was kept in the dark for his safety. She couldn't rightly remember any children her age named Erik, but she would check again at the next party.

 _"Nah. I'm not an heir. I'm a...um...I work,_ " he responded vaguely. Lucy narrowed her eyes. He was lying. Avoiding her question. She knew he was lying! She could feel it, like an itch in the back of her head. _You're lying._

 _"No I'm not!"_

 _Liar! I know you're lying, I can feel it! C'mon, just tell me the truth! Who else will know but me? I'll keep your secret safe, promise!_

He hesitated. _"Promise?"_

 _Forever,_ Lucy vowed.

 _"I'm a slave at the Tower of Heaven,"_ he said it so quickly that Lucy needed a minute to digest it.

When she realized what she had just said, her stomach dropped.

Lucy knew that being a slave was a bad thing. She knew that it was illegal and wrong, but she also knew that some countries still had it. She knew that kids like her would be kidnapped and forced to work without pay, and would be beaten so they could work faster.

 _Do they hurt you?_

 _"Yeah,"_ he mumbled. Lucy noted that he had a slight accent. Eastern dialect, definitely, she just wasn't sure which one. _"It's to make sure we don' slack off or nothin'. They want us to build this quick, so I think if we work faster we'll get out sooner."_

 _What else do you do?_

 _"I'm the medic so I fix people up. I got friends here, like Macbeth, Sorano, Richard, an' Sawyer, an' we're all in the same block. Every other Wenneday I meet Jellal, an' I got my bestest friend in the whole world, too. Her name is Cubellios, an' she's a snake!_ "

Lucy brightened. He seemed to happy talking about his friends. She wished she knew what that was like, but Lucy didn't have friends apart from her mama and her spirits. She didn't like the girls at the parties. They were rude and nosy. The blonde realized that Erik was her first friend and something warm blossomed in her at that revelation.

She had a friend.

She had a friend, and she was going to do whatever she could to make sure he was safe.

 _I'm gonna try and bust you out!_ Lucy declared. She hopped out of bed, sliding her feet into her fluffy slippers, and made her way out of her room.

 _"How're ya gonna do that?_ " Erik was excited. His eagerness flooded her, and goosebumps burst over her flesh. His joy resonated with hers and it only spurred her forward. I _'m gonna look at a map and find out where you are!_

 _"I dunno where I am, though,"_ she drooped a little, but marched towards the library with all the determination of a soldier. She would save him, and then he would stay with her and he could bring all his friends, too. They would stay in the many guest rooms and then they could all play together. She was sure her mama wouldn't mind, and her papa would be convinced if she brought in the highest grades possible.

Lucy bolted across the library to the maps, pulling one of Fiore out and unfurling it. The cartographer had been on exceptional skill. _Are there any landmarks near you?_

 _"Lots of water."_

An island then. Lucy deflated when she realized that there were hundreds littering the surrounding ocean. _Do the guards ever talk about any ports or towns?_

 _"Um...they talk about coal a whole bunch. Might be a fac-tor-y?_ "

Lucy squinted, eyeing port towns. She knew of one with a major coal factory...there!

 _Trivend Town! Okay, so I know the port, what about anything else?_

Erik paused. _"There's a guard that always goes away for three days an' comes back talkin' 'bout the coal."_

Three days. Meaning at least one day of travel. Lucy figured that that meant the island wasn't too far off. The closest one to the port was three centimeters away on the page, and it was all alone. That had to be the one. Waves of exhilaration passed through Lucy, and she felt Erik rouse in excitement, too. She was going to help him! Her very first friend!

* * *

"Papa!" Lucy yelled as she burst into his office. She knew she was supposed to knock first and walk in when permitted, but this was too important.

Her father, mother, and a man in a white lab coat whipped around to stare at her in shock. Her mother's eyes welled with tears as she reached for her, almost tripping over her long skirts in her hurry. "Lucy! Oh, my sweet Lucy! You're awake!"

"Of course I am, mama," Lucy replied in slight confusion.

 _"You must'a fainted when I did. Sorry,"_ Erik said. _"The guards hit me in the head. I'll try to avoid that so you don' get hurt no more."_

 _It's okay, Erik, I'll make sure you'll be fine now,_ Lucy promised silently. Shaking her head, she stared at her father with determined eyes. "Papa, we gotta get to the island off of Trivend Town! We need the whole army!"

"I beg your pardon?"

"There's some mean people who have slaves in a tower over there and they beat them and I just know that we can save them! We will need the whole army to liberate them!" Lucy spoke passionately, satisfied with her argument. She had even used a big word.

Instead of agreement, her father's face tightened as he turned to the doctor. "Explain this."

"She was reading a book about escaping a tower and saving people prior to her collapse. This is just a manifestation of that. The idea probably twisted itself in her mind when she was recuperating."

 _"What's he sayin'?"_ Erik whispered. She didn't know why he was whispering when only she could hear him. _"He's talkin' too fancy."_

 _He's saying that I'm just imagining things because I was reading a book with kind of the same idea before we fainted,_ Lucy whispered back. Her chest was heavy and she longed to scream at the doctor and tell him he was wrong, that her friends were hurting and that she needed to save them. The words were on her tongue but she couldn't speak. Who would believe her? Who would believe that she had magically connected to the nicest boy in the whole world and he needed to be saved?

If she told them that she could hear him, then they would take away her magic and she would be all alone and there was no way she was risking that.

"Get rid of all those fairy tales in the library," her father demanded. Lucy's heart fell. "No!"

"No, Lucy," Jude said firmly. "There will be no arguing this. Do you understand me? Go to your room and rest. Now."

"Come, Lucy," Layla hefted her up, cradling her close. Lucy clung to her mother tightly, stubbornly fighting back the tears that threatened to fall at any moment. She wouldn't cry. Big girls didn't cry.

 _"Yer like Sorano like that,"_ Erik mused.

 _I'm sorry, L_ ucy thought tiredly. _I_ _wanna help you so badly. Nobody believes me_.

 _"'S OK,_ " he replied. The heiress' chest warmed as he tried his best to feel as comforting as possible. _"Ya tried. At least we'll still be friends. We are friends, right?"_

 _Yes!_ Lucy's body jerked with the force of her reply. Layla patted her back in concern. Lucy pursed her lips. _Erik?_

 _"Ya, Lucy?"_

 _I promise you I will set you free and I'll bring you home._

 _"I dunno where my home is, Lucy, I've been here a while."_

Lucy smiled a little at that. _No, silly. Your home is where you're happy, so your home will be with me and we'll be happy. You, me, and all your friends._

" _Don' make promises ya can't keep,"_ he sounded bitter.

 _I'm a Celestial Spirit Mage, and we never break out promises._

 _"...so you promise you'll bring us home? All of us?"_

 _Even if it takes me a million years, you'll be home one day._

* * *

 **A/N:** So you got the first part as a recap of everything from Lucy'S side just so you can compare and contrast their situations. I hope the ending wasn't too rushed, but I'm not one to drag a conversation on and on. Plus, they're seven and nine, they talk and think fast, trust me. Kids have some of the fasted brains I've ever seen.

Also! Did you notice a change in style? I'm trying to capture their mental age in the writing, so ad they mature, so will the wording and the style. You'll see it soon enough.

Hope you enjoyed! Tell me what you think!

-Touko


End file.
